Patriarch Alexy read the draft several times while drinking tea and trying to imagine the implications of the document on Samantra’s legal system. In most ways Samantra was already compliant and in the few ways that it was not he knew he could not defend it publicly.

“Allow me praise you for the proposed draft. It is ambitious, comprehensive and takes into account the needs of the individual while not ignoring the obligations of the individual to the family, society, state and God.
 
I would like to see the final document use unborn rather than fetus in article 11. And I noticed that there are many requirements on the part of the state and society to provide for the individual and I would like to see a provision or a more clear way to express a basic Christian principle that “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”. So for examples the privileges afforded in articles 25 and 26 should be forfeited if man refuses to work. 

And before I conclude I give praise to article 35 which ensures the document will be interpreted by the proper authorities in the manner that is according to our traditions, beliefs and societal standards. " 

You know you are old when you start debating yourself. I am just realizing that if the current constitution doesn't allow that kind of behavior from the GC then my proposal doesn't really help or change much. So maybe we should consider removing some or more of the powers of the GC and maybe give them to a collective body like say Justice Mod, RP Mod and GC. With all three having to agree for a decision to be made.

I will write here more in length what I have said on Discord so that people who do not read hundreds of messages can still be informed.

One of the problems I have is that Beatrice makes announcements on Discord out of the blue that are very controversial and create a lot of discontent. She then realizes she is wrong and cancels them and regrets making them but the damage is done. Players who read them start resenting and new players might even leave.

Now Ach has said something along the line “What B did is unconstitutional, people should come to me and follow the judicial process”. That doesn’t work in games, players will not take time to do something like this.

So I would like to propose a mechanism where Grand Chancellor must make all announcements of her decisions on the forum first, then wait for a reply by the Head Justice of TIO saying whether that is in the power of the GC(but no more than say 7 RL days) and 24 h after that happens an announcement on Discord is made. That gives B time to rethink her proposal, us the time to actually read it and provide some feedback, Ach the time to review it etc.

Announcements like: nobility scrapped or making appointments, mod promotion or demotions, review people RP etc. 

Let me start by saying that I appreciate a lot the fact that Altona took the time to write everything and provide feedback. I can imagine it was not easy. Feedback like this is important if we are to solve any issue we have as a community.

I full agree with what Altona said and with his proposals including making him a mod. I would add that I have raised similar concerns in the past about the hierarchy in TIO (though never so eloquent as Altona or as detailed)  and was dismissed as imagining things. Now I see in the announcement section that the current hierarchy will be preserved and attempts to disrupt it will be monitored and reviewed. I guess I was not imagining things after all.   

I have tried bumping the changes proposed by Beatrice both on the forum and on Discord and was ignored. There is a pattern of a spike in activity by Beatrice when a crisis happens, proposals are made and then nothing, total silence despite pokes made and questions being ask. I really hope this time some reforms are implemented.   

I am extremely humbled that (some) people like my RP. It’s been extremely fun RPing in TIO and I have learned a lot in this community and from the RPers here. Thank you for the kind words. 

I would also like to add the following:

-   I strongly feel that more feedback should be given to posts. I can’t stress this enough. If you are a new player you literally have the impression that nobody reads your post unless you did something wrong and then it’s short and negative feedback. Now I understand that we cannot comment on all posts or even most of them but at least when it comes to new players some sort of acknowledgement should be given on Discord every couple of posts or so.

-   I encourage people to give feedback as soon as possible. I sometimes feel that some read the posts, do not like something and out of politeness don’t say anything. Since no feedback was given naturally the posting player thinks everything is ok and then continues to do more of the same creating more frustration. When finally feedback is provided it is not criticism it is outright dismissive because of the exasperation accumulated in time. That doesn’t help anyone.

-   I urge players to have more moderation when it comes to claims on anything. I understand players want a piece of something they like from RL. I also understand that if you’ve been here for decades it’s natural to have more claims than new players but please: be more flexible in sharing them especially with new players, use them if you claimed them, do not claim tons of stuff and give some thought if they work for your nation (maybe it did in the past and that’s no longer the case and you can relinquish the claim now?). Again, I understand the attachment but think of a new player starting out, it’s no way on earth he is going to search years of posts to see what pics have been used, what bands, buildings, movies, inventions etc.   

-   There are two TIO communities: a forum based one and a Discord based one. By that I mean there are forum members, lots of them, that hardly talk on Discord and there are quite a few that are active on Discord and have nothing to do or very little with the forum. I am sorry, but I think we need to restate that the forum comes first. That no matter how active you are and sharing ideas on Discord if you haven’t posted on the forum your nation is inactive or does not exist. Titles like nobility (or whatever), mods etc should be given/ earned by forum activity and not Discord one.

PS: I do not understand the criticism against Dave and do not subscribe to them but that is a minor issue.

Maria had to admit that she didn’t expect that Altona would send a prince over for the informal talks. She interpreted the gesture as a sign of respect for Samantra and a show of commitment for the talks.

The talks would take place in the Oak Palace, the building of the Samantran secular government in one of the most exquisite rooms. Maria was joined by Talya Samarin, the CEO of Umarov Real Estate Trust, which today would act as an informal economic advisor to Maria. The two in fact served the same interests, that of the Umarovs,  it was only that Talya was more open about it.


Maria and Talya both stood up when the guests were entered the room. They approached them, greeted them, presented themselves and invited the guests to take a seat.

Once they were all settled, Maria began by saying:

“Your Highness, had I known the government would sent such an important representative we would have scheduled the meeting at a much later date and organized a state visit with military honors included as appropriate for Your Highness’ military background” even though in reality she was glad that was not the case since state visits took a lot of time to organize.

“I am aware of the irony of the situation. Samantra is a nation with no nuclear background and it wants to expand its use aboard. So first allow me to explain how we have come to this point. I am sure you might have heard of the Great War Era and the nuclear bomb dropped by the Achkaerin on our greatest friends and allies at that time, the Ardian Empire. What the Allies could not defeat by the strength of their men they defeated with the merciless and coward act of the nuclear bomb. I will not bore you with our nation’s history but ever since then the Samantran public is reluctant to accept nuclear energy. While opposition was subsided significantly it’s too late for us to develop our own domestic nuclear energy providers and the Samantran public is still reluctant to accept nuclear plants near their communities.
 
Still we in the government understand the opportunity of nuclear energy and we want to make use of it in our approach with the developing countries of Mundus. This is why we have invited you here, to see what solutions we have to build affordable nuclear reactors in developing countries such as Zimalia, how much they cost and if they could break even and how we can supply them with uranium. 

But before we begin getting into the details, I would like to first address the elephant in the room. Samantra does not trust the empires of Achkaerin and Rokkenjima, we believe they honor their names are imperialistic to the core and jealously guard their privileged place under the sun. This is one of the reasons why we have no intention to join MAEA and we seek partners that also do not seek to join. So Your Highness, does Altona intent to join MAEA?”

Maria waited to see what the guests would reply. She didn’t really expect Altona to have intentions about joining MAEA and she just being diplomatic. Her message for the guests was to make clear from day one where Samantra stood on the two imperialistic powers and have Altona understand the risks.

Addressed to the Altonan ambassador in Petrograd
From: Her Excellency, Minister of External Affairs Maria Mikhailov



I would like to begin by your nation’s achievements in the field of nuclear energy have left an impression on us in Samantra’s secular government. What you have achieved is impressive by in and of itself but to have done it outside MAEA and without much connections to the large regional blocks that dominate Mundus is outstanding. Yet despite your achievements in the field we feel that your exports aboard have been if not modest then at least below their potential.

The Holy Kingdom of Samantra seeks to create bridges with the developing countries of Mundus and I believe your nuclear expertise could help us achieve that. So I would like to invite your or a representative of your government together with one of your experts on nuclear energy to the Oak Palace (ooc: HQ of the secular movement) for an informal and discreet exploratory meeting about building affordable nuclear power plants in developing countries. Our government in a partnership with the private sector is willing to fund construction of such nuclear power plants in the developing world provided that we can find a suitable and flexible partner that meets our needs and a feasible plan so that they can become profitable and recover our investment in the long term.

Should you be interested, please let us know so that we can have our staffs arrange the meeting.   

Respectfully yours,
Maria Mikhailov
Minister of External Affairs

For those in Samantra that are interested in Sci-Fi there are none who have not heard of the universe of HK 40K (Holy Kingdom 40K). In the franchise’s 40 year history tens of millions of books were sold, several movies were made, though none of them successful, and every year more than a dozen fan conventions are held. There is no Sci-Fi universe that is more popular in Samantra today than HK 40K. It has even earned a brief mention in some history text book for primary schools.

So it’s hard to imagine today that the universe struggle at first and the first novel risked being banned in the country. For those unfamiliar with the universe it takes place in the far future in the year 40 thousand where a space faring Rus’ human nation called the Holy Kingdom spans an enormous space of over “100 stars and over a trillion souls”. The universe is dark even for a dystopia with the Holy Kingdom presented in books as having succumbed to superstition and moral decay and is constantly at war. The Holy Kingdom of the novels is a theocracy ruled by an emperor who the people worship as a god but it is never revealed if he is even alive. Upon publishing the novel many in Samantra where outraged at the parallel between Holy Kingdom of the Sci FI novel and Samantra with many in the country seeing the universe as a critique of Samantra’s institutions. The most outrageous of them by far being that of the God Emperor who sits on the throne in the novel being a veiled reference to Jesus Christ who is the King of Samantra. The fact that the author of the novel, Iban Krylov, refused to ever say publicly if it was a critique of Samantra only fueled criticism of the novel but also its popularity.

So what helped the novels and the universe take off in Samantra despite the initial rocky start? The answer is the the fandom which did not care or didn’t even see a political critique of Samantra but a universe rich in religious elements and symbolism, and a dystopian setting that many compared to Samantra’s Sacred War and thus were immediately drawn to.
   
     
So what can be said for the future of the franchise? According to the company owning the rights to the universe, the answer is an expansion aboard and a reattempt at making a movie. The past failures of the universe to be successful at the cinema have not dissuaded the company from trying again, this time with a huge 50 million roubles/USD budget almost twice the size of the largest budget of the previous attempts.
 
“I think the previous attempts were not marketed properly. We learnt a lot from past mistakes and the new movie will show this” said a representative of the company. According to sources the movie is set to release late this year. The company has also allocated a significant budget aimed at marketing the novels aboard.


OOC: This is NOT a claim of the Warhammer 40K since I do not do claims. Feel free to also use the 40K universe if you want to.
The HK 40K is a not a perfect copy of Warhammer 40k with the Holy kingdom of the universe being much smaller than the Imperium of 40K and likely not the only human civilization. I haven’t decided if there are aliens in HK 40K. 

The Holy Kingdom of Samantra will send a team for men. The Grand Duchy of Belgravia will do the same if there are open spots left and it's not against the rules.

To: His Royal Majesty, King HeydarJulius Devaux
From: Her Excellency, President of the Duma Yeva Litvin


I would like to express my full support for Your Majesty’s kingdom in the face of the announced Rokkenjiman sanctions. We find the sanctions to be politically driven and part of Rokkenjiman agenda that treats other sovereign countries outside its sphere of influence as threats or pawns. The Holy Kingdom rejects that approach and respects the sovereignty of each country in determining its domestic policies.

The Holy Kingdom of Samantra assures Your Majesty of our full support on the matter and my government has implemented a plan aimed at alleviating the disruptions created by the ill advised Rokkenjiman actions. Furthermore, I would like to reconfirm our interest to join the Gulf of Auraxis Agreement as an associate partner. I believe cooperation between our countries is key to countering the malign influence of the Rokkenjiman Empire.



Yours respectfully,
Yeva Litvin
President of the Duma

Following news that the Rokkenjiman Empire issued unexpected and unprecedented sanctions against Royal Seleucid and Waddan, the secular government in cooperation with the spiritual government has initiated “the Good Samaritan” government program. The program is aimed at helping Samantran companies provide support to affected parties of the Rokkenjiman sanctions against Royal Seleucid and Waddan by paying for the costs of transitioning from Rokkenjiman goods and services to Samantran ones. Under the program Samantran companies that pay the costs for foreign partners to transition from Rokkenjiman goods or services to Samantran ones will see that cost deducted from their income tax. As one analyst explained “changing suppliers whether it’s for a good or service is often a difficult and costly process. Through this program a Samantran company can offer to pay for that cost, provided that there is a transition to a Samantran product or service. What surprised many is that the program is not exclusive to affected parties from Seleucid or Waddan but anyone else on Mundus. So for example if a company from Rayyu has problems because Rokkenjiman airline companies no longer service flights between Rayyu and Royal Seleucid then they can benefit from the program if the switch to a Samantran airlines that services those routes. The same can be said for say a Zaporosh company that say imports oil and gas and was using a Rokkenjiman international bank for their payment to Royal Seleucid. They too can benefit if they switch to a Samatran bank going forward. “

The program has been well received by the business environment of Samantran with representatives of the large corporations saying it will help them in encouraging foreign companies to switch to Samantran goods and services. However, when talking about the impact of the program the representatives where more reserved in their estimates with one CEO saying:

“We don’t have the exact data of the trade and investments between the two MidAranye states and Rokkenjima but from what I understand from our partners in Royal Seleucid it is limited. In the case of Waddan I imagine it is minuscule but again these are not official data. “

The Patriarchal Palace has issued a statement in support of the program saying that “where Rokkenjima has spat Samantra kisses, where the Empire has chosen to seed discord the holy kingdom brings peace and where the Empire is First to bring harm the holy kingdom attempts to heal”.

The Oak Palace (secular government) has released a statement saying the Rokkenjiman sanctions are “ill advised, not aligned with that the community of nations desires and an abandonment of diplomacy“ adding that “constructive dialogue must be the way to approach disagreements between sovereign countries”.
 




President Yeva Litvin met with several CEOs of some of the country’s largest corporations for talks about how the secular government can adapt regulations to allow businesses to better compete aboard.  The regular meeting though was exceptional in that, according to sources, the President of the Duma issued warnings to the CEOs to have backup plans for their imports from Rokkenjima whether it is goods or services, with those backup suppliers to be from Rus’ countries or SUN countries preferably. According to the sources, the tone of the meeting was dire with the President saying that Rokkenjima’s actions are increasingly hostile to Samantran interests and anticipated further hostile actions as those initiated by Rokkenjiman empress against Samantra but later rejected by the Rokkenjiman legislature.

Trinitas TV contacted the Oak Palace for comments in regards to the rumors but no comment was given other than that the “the exact contents of the talks were private but the agenda was about improving the competitiveness of Samantra’s business environment and potential challenges Samatran businesses could face.”

“Such infrastructure projects are wonderful opportunities but they also cost a fortune and are risky, Your Majesty. If the projects don’t yield the expected results they could easily turn into a money pit. Not to mention it takes years to build them. I do however understand that this proposal shows that Your Majesty values our business partnership and from our perspective shows that there is willingness to accommodate our concerns. ”

Yeva paused for a couple of moments before resuming:

“I think we can make this work if Your Majesty is willing to also offer us the following concession. We would like for 10% of oil and gas payments to your kingdom to be moved to the escrow account up until an amount that is equal to 10% of yearly oil and gas purchases is reached. The money will be gradually released to your government as payments start coming from the infrastructure projects but will not go below that 10% of yearly oil and gas purchases. This means that we start having a monetary guarantee from day one and do not remain exposed until the infrastructure projects start making money.

We will of course ask for this escrow account to be held in a Samantran bank of your choosing or at our central bank.   

In return we agree to your terms to maintaining purchases of oil and gas from the Kingdom at a level no lower than the present and we will recommend to our companies that the Clysperi business environment is one that is safe for investing which will see our companies continue to invest in Setri.

Does Your Majesty agree? “

Yeva did not comment on the special Clysperi crude oil, all nations that export oil praise their oil and for good reason but Yeva wasn’t looking to start a contest which oil was better.

“I am not looking to include your kingdom into our dispute with the Achkaerin but at the same time realities cannot be ignored, Your Majesty. You yourself have sanctioned nations that in the past have sanctioned Tamora. You did that in order to help an ally. If relations between Achkaerin and us further deteriorate we are in a vulnerable position.

I appreciate the permanent preferred trading status proposal and before I ask for details I would first say that it raises new concerns. Not so long ago you have seized Tamoran assets overnight. So what is permanent today can change tomorrow. What if God forbid Your Majesty is no longer on the throne tomorrow? We have no guarantee the permanent status would be maintained” Yeva was polite enough to make up the excuse with Akasha not being on the throne but she was more concerned if Akasha changed her mind.

“I think you may have mistaken our position with that of the current international order. We detest slavery, of course but we do not let the domestic policies of a state affect our energy security. We wish to cut our dependence from Tamora because they have entered in what seems a period of isolation and that raises concerns for us and the international sanctions placed on them makes trade difficult. We have not sanctioned the Tamoran Empire and we consider the Emirate of Royal Seleucid to be a reliable partner. We have no intentions to reduce our imports from the Emirate”. As she said that Yeva admitted to herself that Akasha’s point was a good one even if not exactly on spot in the case of Samantra. It would seem Talya Samarin, the CEO of Umarov Real Estate Trust, who had negotiated before with Akasha was right. There was more to this woman that just her social media account and underestimating her would be a mistake.

Yeva did not want to sound like she was stonewalling Akasha, she appreciated the effort to negotiate.

“Your Majesty, we have been honest so far even if there is serious disagreement between our positions so I will continue to be so even if what I will say may not be pleasant. There is little trust between us, Your Majesty. Your decisions of seizing Tamoran assents makes us think you could do the same to us should you decide that is required by your national interest. If I were to guess that is why some of your neighbors are a bit reluctant to heavily invest in Clysperis. Your extremely close relationship with Achkaerin is a liability for us. Should you change your mind or as I said, God forbid, for whatever reason you will no longer be on the throne and another CLysperi Pharaoh comes we could end up with oil cut and assets frozen. That is why our companies are reluctant to invest too much and as a state we are prudent and want to reduce our dependence on your oil.

If we are to come to some sort of compromise that I need to see some sort of agreement in which your side also stands to lose if the agreement is broken. If you are willing to put some skin in the game then I believe we could reach a compromise and one that could see more, much more Samatran investments coming to Clysperis. I understand you want to your new city to become an international financial hub, we can help and much more.“ Yeva added trying to show that there was willingness on the Samantran side for real negotiations and that she was not only asking for Akasha to compromise. 

“So what is Your Kingdom willing to put at stake for a compromise to be reached?”